Bird of the Month: Red-breasted Merganser

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Oi oi oi! The Red-breasted Merganser, Mary Birdsong's Bird of the Month for January, is real punk (in appearance only). The distinctive mohawk of this abundant waterbird makes them stand out in Erie's winter landscape.

If ever there was a bird that could be said to have permanent bad hair days, it would be the Red-breasted Merganser. Its spiky crest is made up of feathers of varying lengths and almost always looks disheveled – sometimes quite comically so. They are also called saw-bill ducks because they have what look like teeth but are actually serrations on both the upper and lower bills. Together, the "mohawks" and sharp "choppers" make them look pretty tough – the punk rockers of the bird world.

After nesting in primarily the upper portion of North America and Asia, Red-breasted Mergansers (RBME for short) migrate south for the winter and are frequent winter visitors to the waters of the Erie area if they remain ice-free.

The Red-breasted Merganser is a medium-sized waterbird about 22 inches long with a wingspan of just under 30 inches. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males and females having different plumage. The male features a dark head with an iridescent greenish cast, a body of alternating black and white feathers, and a reddish-brown breast mottled with black. The female is the plainer of the two with a rufous head and crest, and a pale grayish breast. Similarities they share are bright red eyes and slender red-orange bills, although male bills tend to be redder. These serrated bills, mentioned above, are what set mergansers apart from other waterfowl. Unlike ducks that have wide, rounded bills, mergansers have very narrow, pointed and hooked bills, which are effective at grasping slippery prey.

That prey is mostly small fish, though scientists have found they sometimes eat seeds and insects. In Lake Erie, the fish they take are mostly emerald shiners, gizzard shad, and the occasional round goby.

This species is one of the most abundant waterbirds here in the winter, according to Jerry McWilliams, who has been doing daily waterbird surveys from late August to late December every year since 1987. On Dec. 6, 2013, he recorded 46,600 Red-breasted Mergansers migrating through on that single day. And in seven other years, he has recorded more than 10,000 birds in a single day. Season totals can reach into six digits. In 2012, the Christmas Bird Count (an international event that occurs every December since 1900) total for the species was 24,973.

And because of its profusion here, the Red-breasted Merganser has earned a place (along with a Piping Plover and a Least Bittern) in the Erie Bird Observatory logo as one of the "signature" birds in this area.

To get decent close-up views of these birds, visit the channel from the South Pier (on the mainland at the foot of Port Access Road) or North Pier (on Presque Isle State Park) when there is open water. March would be the best time to see them perform their courtship behaviors, which can be amusing to watch.

Once you find them, you may even hear The Clash playing in the distance.

Mary Birdsong is the lead shorebird monitor for Erie Bird Observatory. Learn more at eriebirdobservatory.org. Mary can be reached at mbirdsong@eriereader.com